Watch: Robocar completes first ever autonomous Goodwood hillclimb

360-degree video of Robocar's Goodwood hillclimb run

The Robocar, which will be used in the one-make autonomous racing series Roborace, has become the first car to complete an autonomous run up Goodwood hillclimb.

Robocar, which uses inputs from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), radar, GPS, ultrasonic and camera sensors all around the vehicle, completed the run without the assistance of a safety driver.

Development of the championship has typically been completed through the use of ‘DevBot’, which is a modified closed-cockpit race car which allows for the addition of a safety driver. However, this run was completed using the driver-less Robocar, which is the chassis that will be used in the Roborace series.

The vehicle made an appearance at last year’s Festival of Speed Future Lab, and have been present again in this year’s Future Lab, giving fans the chance to watch the autonomous lap using the 360 degrees cameras on board the car.

“It is a narrow track with complex geometry. Turns and hills with a great deal of tree coverage mean you can’t rely on GPS / RTK signal for localisation. Use of all advanced sensors, including LiDARs and cameras with deep learning based computer vision methods are needed to perform well at this course.”

The Roborace series has been in development for a couple of years and plans to become a support race for the Formula E championship.

The plan is for the series to consist of ten two-car teams, each with exactly the same specification of the Robocar.

The competition element between teams lies in the development of their own artificial intelligence technologies and use their own computing algorithms.

“Roborace plays an important role in the future of mobility, challenging public perceptions and providing a platform to advance new technologies,” said Charles Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond and Founder of the Festival of Speed. “This makes them the perfect partner to undertake this significant feat.”

As an FIA-accredited motor sport journalist, degree-level Motorsport Engineer and amateur karter, Luke's passion for motor sport is evident.
He is one of the editors at FormulaSpy and one of the longest-standing members of the team.

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